Calling things like veganism and LGBT political is sad to me. Are we really saying people who don't want to harm animals and people who believe all genders and sexual orientations should have the same rights are political? Politics should mean shit like taxes.
That's quite a narrow definition of politics. I'd say anything that humans do that is perceived by others to be part of a social structure that maintains or challenges social norms and power relations is political.
Only if veganism itself becomes something nobody would challenge (like health is better than death, breathing is important) or if you are the last person on earth you can become the first apolitical vegan.
That's what I'm saying. They shouldn't be political issues. Everyone would hopefully agree. I'm not saying we shouldn't call them political issues, I'm lamenting that they have become political issues.
The issue here is that you're adding connotations to the term that aren't there. Being vegan just simply means not consuming animal products. There's no ideology attached to it. It's not something that's inherently political. People can be, and many are, vegan for health, religious, or personal reasons. You can't claim your personal views on being vegan are the only ones. You don't have exclusive ownership of the term. I personally don't care how you feel about veganism, my point is that veganism is a lot more broad and apolitical than people like you, who tend to have myopic views, claim it to be.
Calling things like veganism and LGBT political is sad to me. Are we really saying people who don't want to harm animals and people who believe all genders and sexual orientations should have the same rights are political? Politics should mean shit like taxes.
That's quite a narrow definition of politics. I'd say anything that humans do that is perceived by others to be part of a social structure that maintains or challenges social norms and power relations is political.
Only if veganism itself becomes something nobody would challenge (like health is better than death, breathing is important) or if you are the last person on earth you can become the first apolitical vegan.
Topics like sports are also very opinionated but no one calls them political.
Welcome to the Olympics.
That's what I'm saying. They shouldn't be political issues. Everyone would hopefully agree. I'm not saying we shouldn't call them political issues, I'm lamenting that they have become political issues.
Militant vegans give veganism a bad rep but there are a lot of people who are vegan for health reasons
The issue here is that you're adding connotations to the term that aren't there. Being vegan just simply means not consuming animal products. There's no ideology attached to it. It's not something that's inherently political. People can be, and many are, vegan for health, religious, or personal reasons. You can't claim your personal views on being vegan are the only ones. You don't have exclusive ownership of the term. I personally don't care how you feel about veganism, my point is that veganism is a lot more broad and apolitical than people like you, who tend to have myopic views, claim it to be.